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Engineering a Perfect Solution

By: TexasFarmBoy



My name is Allen Culbertson and my wife is named Crys. We have been married for twelve years that I can honestly say we have been very happy. I work at a major manufacturing company as the department manager in their mechanical engineering department and Chris is a demographic analyst for an advertising agency. We have no children yet. But today, I have a problem; no, I have a major problem. Through a series of errors in judgment, I have put my marriage and my career on the line and the piper is about to demand his due. 

It would be very easy to blame the whole thing on fate or someone like my long time friend, Jerry Altiori; but like most things in this life, that would be a failure to admit my own responsibility. I guess I need to tell you about Jerry and I and it will take awhile. 

He and I met in college. I was in the mechanical engineering program and he was in the electrical engineering. We met in our freshman year as roommates and then became friends. He was typically Italian and outgoing even to the point of being a little brash. On the other hand, I was more soft spoken and reserved. Our friendship allowed me to open up a little and I could also say that I could temper his ultra-enthusiasm on a number of occasions. At least three of those occasions occurred when he was certain that he was deeply and madly in love with a girl who I knew was at best a serial flirt and at worst, a slut. 

To my benefit, his personality forced me out of my shell frequently and as a result, I had a social life during college. He would easily pick up a girl in a club or even in the student center. She usually had a girl friend nearby and I was the designated cover man to insure him time to work on his primary target. As a consequence, I met a number of very attractive and nice girls and we often found enough similarities to enjoy each other's company for a month or two. My sex life was probably double or perhaps triple what it would have been had I not been Jerry's cover man. 

This more or less came to an end in our senior year. He set his sights on a beautiful advertising major named Melissa. Truthfully, I almost wished that she would be turned off by his enthusiastic rush and that I would have gladly made an effort for her attention too. Unfortunately, that did not happen; she ate his charm, wit, and banter up like a platter of hot wings. In the background was a quiet blonde named Crystal who preferred to be called Crys. She was majoring in Statistics with a minor in Marketing. She already knew that she wanted to get into demographic analysis. She and Melissa were also roommates. 

The upshot was that the four of us spent about 90% of our time together outside of class. We went through graduation together and then went on a weeklong celebration to Aruba together. When we came back, Jerry and I started working at the company where we are still employed today. A month later, Melissa was hired by an advertising agency in town and Crys found an entry level position with a television station in their programming department. We continued to get together as Jerry and I shared an apartment and Crys and Melissa did likewise. The difference was that more often than not, Crys came to our apartment while Jerry went to their apartment. This gave Crys and I enough alone time to finally get to know each other better on a personal rather than just a social level. We discovered that we liked each other a lot and that turned into love. We got married the following spring with you know who as best man and maid of honor. 

Jerry and Melissa waited another six month before they tied the knot at a big, splashy Italian wedding. Crys and I served as their primary attendants also. With that, our lives lost some of its spontaneity and exuberance. All of us were very involved with our jobs and careers and had begun to assume more and more responsibility as well. We still got together almost every weekend though. Jerry and I continued to see each other daily at work and Crys and Melissa got together for lunch a couple of times each week since the station and Melissa's agency were only a few blocks apart. 

In our third year of marriage, I got my first big promotion and a raise that allowed us to buy our first house. Jerry was also promoted and they decided to move to a high rise condo in the upscale part of downtown. This highlighted the difference between us. Crys and I preferred the slower and less hectic life in a suburb rather than the flashing lights of downtown. Our drives to work were farther, but we felt better with a yard and garden and our own solid ground. 

During our fifth year together, Crys was approached by a major advertising support company to join their expanding demographic department as the manager of their growing internet business. She was basically at the top of her potential at the station until her boss retired which was at least ten years in the future. She took the job offer and took over a department of young hot shots eager to conquer the internet. At 28, she was the old woman of the department. Somehow, she was able to get and hold their attention well enough to turn her babies into a very effective group. Two years later, her company merged with Melissa's growing agency and once again the two roommates were together on a daily basis. 

After two more promotions, I was the head of the mechanical department and Jerry was at a similar level in electrical. In our new capacities, we spent more time reviewing projects than doing hard engineering. We also had to travel frequently to the home office to present status reports and the like to our ultimate bosses. Our joint get-togethers became more like monthly get-togethers because of our travel schedules. When we were in town, Jerry and I usually had a boy's night out while our wives had a girl's night out. I couldn't speak for our wives, but Jerry and I usually used our time out together to blow off some of our stress at ball games, golf, and things like that. We would revert to our college personas and bullshit each other and look at all of the available girls and offer our commentary on their potential. Neither one of us acted on anything, but reliving those days of freedom was therapeutic for both of us. 

Personally, Crys and I were happy in our house, but during one of the frequent housing upheavals and recessions, we found a bigger house that was on the verge of foreclosure and we were able to arrange a deal to buy it at a greatly reduced price and were able to move while having a mortgage that was virtually the same as our previous one. Our smaller house sold quickly as many people were urgently trying to downsize. Now we had a larger house, a larger yard, and a swimming pool with hot tub to relax in. We also lived less than a mile from the lake and that allowed us to pursue a dream that both of us shared. We took sailing lessons and loved it. The next spring, we bought a 25 ft sailboat and kept it at the local marina. 

Melissa and Jerry had also moved, but into a larger condo in downtown and they were frequent hosts of dinner parties for Melissa's clients. We were often invited, but only accepted about half of those offered. 

That pretty well describes how our two families were locked and interlocked on the fateful day that all of this started. It was in early spring when the trees were just beginning to bloom and thankfully, the weather was finally into the 70's consistently. I had returned from a trip on a Friday afternoon. That night, Jerry and I went to one of the first baseball games at the stadium. We fought the Friday traffic and were seated behind the dugout when the game started. As most early season games were, there were a lot of mistakes and a few good plays. Ultimately, we lost in the ninth inning when our reliever gave up three straight gopher balls that disappeared into the night. 

As we started the drive back to town, Jerry asked, "Have you seen the gift from heaven that dropped into our laps this week?" 

I looked and sounded confused. "What are you talking about? I didn't get back until noon and didn't even go into the office." 

"My friend, we now have a drop dead gorgeous blonde working in the engineering department as of Wednesday. Rumor has it that she spent a month at corporate and then was sent here. I just caught a glimpse of her this afternoon and she will definitely get your motor running." 

"Crys gets my motor running and you know it." 

"I know; I know, but this is the stuff that fantasies are made of, especially for guys who have been married for more than ten years." 

"Keep it in your pants, Jerry. This is beginning to sound the Jerry who chased anything in a skirt in college. I will tell you right now, don't; I repeat, do not fall in love with this fantasy. Melissa will cut your balls off, Crys will cut you into little pieces, and I will be required to bury you in five or six different places." 

"I know, but wait until you see her first. I'll tell you what; she was looking for you today about an old project. You will probably see her first thing Monday morning. Meet me for lunch and tell me that I am wrong. If you can that, I will let it go." 

"Fine, I will be happy to meet her and tell you that you are wrong." 

"We'll see." He grinned that grin that I knew all too well. He had a target in his cross hairs. We changed the subject until he dropped me off at 11:30. Crys was still up after having spent the evening with Melissa and one of their sorority sisters. 

"Hi. How was your evening?" I asked. 

"Actually, it was better than usual. We had drinks and dinner with Penelope. She is still a hoot. She is getting ready to go on the road for two months. They are going to shoot about half her shows on the road and then she is going to be making visits to a list of garden centers to promote her program." 

"From what I have heard, "In the House and Garden with Penelope" is doing very well." 

"It is; but the numbers show that she still isn't hitting the Midwest like she should. So she is going to make a swing up there. She is also excited; she hasn't been on the road for some time. I think she likes to meet new guys. She is wearing the local guys out." 

"She is a handful." 

Crys grinned and innocently replied, "How would you know that? You didn't meet her until after we met." 

"I have a vivid imagination." 

She laughed loudly. "That's bullshit; you are an engineer. Drop those clothes and let's go skinny dipping before we go to bed." 

I had forgotten Jerry and my conversation by Monday morning, but promptly at 9:00, there was a knock on my office door. "It's open; come on in." I responded. 

When the door opened, I immediately stood up and remembered every word Jerry had said. She was every bit of a drop dead gorgeous woman. Tall, dark hair, dark eyes, slender figure with all of the right places in their right places. She also was dressed more for a sorority function than an engineering department but then, everyone has to have a flaw or two. Mine was that I was suddenly tongue tied. The fact that she was smiling a naturally warm smile didn't help at all. 

"Come in and have a seat." I finally managed to sputter. "I am Allen...Allen Culbertson. What can I do for you?" 

She grinned like she was familiar with the routine. 

"Please relax. I don't bite. My name is Heather; Heather Harlowe." She thrust out her hand and I shook it eagerly." 

"Welcome Heather Harlowe. I take it that you are new?" I couldn't for the life of me to think of anything suave or catchy to say." 

"You were out of town all last week. I assume that you haven't checked your e-mail yet. I graduated in January from UT and have spent the last two months at the corporate office going through their engineering and management training programs. They transferred me here last week. I actually started Wednesday." 

"Wonderful. I have a feeling that you will be a welcome addition to the engineering department." 

"Thanks; everyone has been very nice especially the guys; but then their eyes have been very busy too. I have to apologize. I flew down and most of my things are being shipped here. I only brought a few dresses with me. My normal work clothes are supposed to arrive today. Tomorrow, I will be in more work appropriate attire." 

"I have no problem with what you are wearing right now, but I do agree that you will probably be more comfortable in something more casual. The electrical guys can keep their hands clean; the mechanical guys get their hands dirtier." 

"Tell me about it. In school, the electrical guys could wear a white shirt all day in the lab and go out at night without changing. The mechanical guys would have to shower with a Brillo pad and change before they could go out." 

"Then you understand the difference perfectly. By the way, which department are you in?" 

She smiled, "Neither and both." I raised my eyebrow. "That is one of the unresolved issues. My degree is in a new area called Engineering Integration. Basically, I took four different types of engineering courses. I can't sit down and design a mechanical device like you can, but when your design and the electrical or other designs come together, I look and make sure that they will fit and work together. By doing this, we should be able to reduce the amount of time spent by one department haggling with another department over what will work best. I will review both sides and if I see problems, I will bring it to everyone's attention and work out a good solution." 

I looked surprised and then said, "You are going to be a very busy girl. Here, we have twenty projects going on and the electrical side has over thirty and it seems like every day, there are two or three integration meetings and they aren't short. It is only going to get worse because we are having more and more requirements to integrate the mechanical products with processors and computers coming up." 

"I know. The current things are what they hope I can resolve. And the digital integration is what I specialized in. As a result, I really don't have a permanent department. On a daily basis, I am to split time working with you and Mr. Altiori but for now, I report directly to Mr. Reynolds. As we find out how things will work, he will decide where I fit best. So, you can tell me what to do, but you can't yell at me." She smiled that killer smile again and I felt a tingle in a place that engineers seldom feel a work. 

"I can't imagine yelling at you for anything. So, what do we need to do first? I see that you have a set of drawings in your hand." 

She was looking directly at me while I was trying to avoid staring at anything below her chin. She smiled and replied, "Yes. This was sent down from Corporate with me to take a look at first. This was a project you worked on eight years ago. It didn't work but for the life of me, I can't see why it won't. Everything looks right." 

She stood and rolled out the drawings on my desk. She had to bend forward as she did this and the top of her dress fell away and I was looking directly at her bra encased breasts. If I had to engineer a perfect pair of breasts, all I would have to do would be to take a mold of hers. She broke that moment by coming around and standing next to me so she could point things out. Now I could smell the fresh aroma of her body and I was just as mesmerized by that. 

I put my eyeballs back where they belonged and focused on the prints. The project immediately came back to me. "Ah yes, this is one that I try to forget, but can't." 

She had her work face on now. "What is the story on it?" 

"We had a customer who needed this on really short notice; like eight weeks from 'go' to handing them a working prototype. I busted my ass on it and got the mechanical part done. The problem came up when we tried to put the controller in the box. It wouldn't fit. We were only talking about less than half an inch, but the cable connectors available at the time were just too long. We couldn't change the size of the box and the electrical guys couldn't find a way to make the board or connectors smaller. We gave them the prototype on time, but we had to mount a separate box on the outside to fit the connectors on it. The customer said that it worked fine, but that they couldn't use it with the extra box. I think that it was a military thing; they never said. So we rolled up the drawings and went on to the next project. Our prototype is still around here somewhere." 

"Great! Can we find it today or tomorrow?" There was excitement in her voice. 

"Sure. I can look around after I check my e-mail. Why is this important?" 

"From what I was told, someone else picked it up and delivered a working prototype that didn't have the electrical problems, but their mechanical part hasn't been very reliable. We have been given the opportunity to take another look at it and provide another prototype. If the customer likes it, we might be in line for a production run." 

"Ok, the e-mails can wait. Do you want to look with me?" 

"I really would like to see what is still hanging around, but I need to meet Mr. Altiori. Can you introduce me to him first?" 

I couldn't help but grin before I replied, "If I didn't like you, I would tell you to go out anywhere and ask where the Italian Stallion sits. But I like you, so I will take you there and save you the giggles. By the way, his wife calls him her Italian goofball." 

She grinned her fatal grin again and replied, "I get the picture; I knew a lot of guys like that at the University. They thought that they were God's gift to women and most of the women thought that they were God's way of keeping us humble." 

I grinned and replied, "No comment." 

"Uh huh. I thought so. You must be his best friend and your job is to keep him out of trouble." 

"I try." I replied with a sigh. That earned me a laugh and if her smile didn't charm me, her laugh definitely did. 

We walked the fifty feet to Jerry's office. It wasn't that hard to find, but it was tucked away behind a long row of drawing cabinets. As usual, I didn't knock but just walked in. Jerry looked up and asked, "Have you met that hot new chick..." I guess that Heather had just entered behind me and Jerry caught himself as his eyes went into overdrive, just like mine had. 

"Yes Jerry, I have met the hot new chick and her name is Heather Harlowe. Heather, this is the infamous Jerry Altiori. You will have to forgive him; he doesn't usually have egg on his face." 

She laughed again and said, "I will forgive him this time. Hello, Jerry; I am Heather." 

Jerry recovered, "Yes, you are. And why were you hanging around in the ME department? They can't answer the phone without getting dirty. Dressed as well as you are, you should always spend time in the Double E area where it is clean." 

She turned to me and said, "We were right." Then she turned back to Jerry and said, "I already told Allen that I am only dressed this way because the rest of my clothes are still en route. Tomorrow, I will be in normal work wear." 

Jerry replied while still scanning her body closely, "You can wear things like that any time you want, my dear." 

I felt the need to pour a little cold water on Jerry and bring this back to earth. "Um Jerry, I am sure that Heather will tell you but for the moment, she will be working with both of us. However, she reports directly to Reynolds. From what I can tell so far, we will both be reporting to her in two years or less. Heather, I will go find that prototype. I trust that you can handle anything that Mr. Altiori throws at you. If not, just call." 

She laughed again and replied, "I will tell you both right now that at the University I got hit on by half of the football and basketball teams. My sorority sisters say that I am the record holder in handing out blue balls to athletes." 


Engineering a Perfect Solution



I nodded and said, "You will do fine here. Have fun, Jerry." 

Heather grinned at me while Jerry scowled. I went back to my area and then into the storage room. We didn't keep a lot of things after they went into production or were turned down. Usually the parts were recycled. For some unknown reason, this particular prototype had survived. I took it down and put it on one of the work benches. The air gun blew eight years of dust off of it quickly and then I looked closely at it. Honestly, I felt that this might have been the best engineering work I ever did by myself. It was my project and I worked long and hard to complete it. I still remembered searching through catalogs and on line to find bearings that met the spec, but which were thinner and stronger than the standards. I had to fit a fairly complex bunch of parts into a small box and have them work. As I had told Heather, the only thing I couldn't do was find a half an inch for the cable connectors. 

I carried it back to my office and set it on the side table for when Heather was available to look at it. Then I opened my e-mail and looked at a week's worth of gossip, news, and a few important messages. Among the important ones were two from Reynolds. The first was to everyone in the Engineering Department. All it said was to introduce the newest member of the Engineering Department and to give her a welcome and support her as she got acclimated. The other one was to me only. It read, "Allen, our newest employee is really special. She has been sent down here by corporate to get her feet wet for a year or two. For now, I want you and Altiori to work with her, but she will report to me. Try to keep the testosterone level down in the trenches. You would not believe her resume; she makes all of us look like graduates of a trade school. We might all be reporting to her in a few years. I want you to be her primary mentor. You have a spare office in your area; have her set up shop there. Let me know if you have any problems or resistance. This is priority one." He signed it "Bill" which he only did on very rare occasions. I printed out a copy and then deleted the message. 

I sat back and realized that the eyeful who had walked into my office was a lot more than a pretty face and a great body. Bill Reynolds had personally asked me to keep an eye on her. I also realized that there was a lot more at stake than a new employee who was going to attract a lot of attention. I was also put on the hot seat because Bill still didn't trust Jerry about anything except work projects. 

I sighed and began to look at the weekly reports from my lead engineers. There was nothing to get excited about except for one. It was a small project, but one that had potential. I frowned as I read their report. There were a number of problems that weren't getting resolved and I wasn't sure why. A phone call later and we had a meeting scheduled for 1:30 to talk about it. 

It was now 11:30 and I began to think about what to do for lunch. I didn't get far in my thoughts when there was a knock on my door again. "Come in." 

Heather walked back into my life. This time, she simply went to the chair and sat down. "Hi." She said with her smile still in place. 

I grinned, "Did you survive Jerry?" 

"Yes, I did; thank you for asking. I even got him to cooperate on reviving that project." I pointed to the side table."Oh good; you found it." She rose and went to the table and looked the device over carefully. I had the feeling that she really did understand what she was looking at. After several minutes, she turned back and took her seat again. 

"You were right; there really isn't any room for anything. I didn't realize that the box was so small." 

"That was the issue from Day One. It had to fit in that box. All of the gears and bearings in there are special order items from custom vendors. I couldn't use standard items. Then I had to have the linkages specially made in our shop to make them fit. We had a couple of machinists in our shop that could hold a really tight tolerance. Without that, we would have just assembled a bunch of useless parts." 

"I sense that you had more invested in this than in most projects." 

"You are very perceptive." I left it at that. "Now, it is almost lunch time. Are you up for the cafeteria or would you prefer to go outside and get some real food?" 

"Why Mr. Culbertson, I just turned Jerry down for an outside lunch; why should I go out to lunch with you?" 

"Because we need to talk. We can do it here; in the cafeteria; or at the diner down the street. Your choice." 

"Why do we need to talk?" 

"Because I read my e-mail." I slid a cope of Reynolds e-mail across the table to her. 

She read it quickly and then looked at me without the flirt in her eye. "How about outside, but not at the diner? I ate there last week and I would prefer something else." 

"Is there anything else that you don't like?" 

"No; your choice." 

"Then let's go eat." I rose and she followed. The smile was still on her face, but I could see a certain wariness in her look. I assumed that she wasn't exactly sure what was about to happen, but then I didn't either. I was just trying to find out what I needed to do next. 

We drove quietly to a small, Greek restaurant that I liked and I helped her out of the car and inside. Once we placed our orders, she looked at me and her smile returned, "So, what do we need to talk about?" 

"Heather, may I call you Heather?" 

"Yes, of course. I work for you. You can call me anything you want." 

"Heather, I have worked here for almost thirteen years and for all of them, I have reported to Bill Reynolds. I can read between his lines. I know enough to know that you are here for a reason. What that reason is, I don't have a clue; that knowledge is well above my pay grade. I also expect that you may not know exactly why you are here and if you do, you probably can't tell me. That's fine; I probably don't need to know. What I do know is that Bill asked me to mentor you and keep the wolves at bay. That tells me that I need to know what you want to see and know and that it is up to me to keep you happy. So now, I need to know what you want. It is that simple really." 

She was looking closely at me as I spoke and I could tell that she had listened to every word I had said. 

Instead of the reply I expected, she asked, "Just how smart are you, Allen Culbertson?" She was smiling again. 

"I guess that I am just smart enough to do what I need to do." 

"I think that you underestimate yourself." 

I toyed with the spoon in my iced tea and replied, "Heather, I wasn't jock or a socialite in high school. I was more of a math and science geek. In college, I roomed with Jerry and some of his outgoingness rubbed off on me, but not that much. I majored in engineering because I like to have a clear set of specs to work from and an idea of what the outcome needs to be. Then I can do what I do best which is to figure out how to make things work. I am not as much of a people person as Jerry is; although don't underestimate him; he is a first class engineer and will probably have a better future than I do because of his personality. I will probably never be considered for Bill Reynolds job, but I will probably always have a job though because I do good work and get the job done. Now I don't know how that fits with what you need to know, but that is what I have to offer you." 

She frowned for a moment and then brightened back up. "Thank you for being honest with me. Now it is my turn to be honest with you." She took a deep breath and then began. "Here are my specs. I am five foot eight inches tall and weigh 130 lbs. Ever since I turned 16, I have been hit on by guys my age and older; sometimes a lot older. In college, every year I was approached about running for Miss Texas. This morning, I wasn't bragging about the football team. I have continually been reminded that I am a beautiful and desirable woman. I guess that is so; I have heard it most of my life. I am what I am physically. I was granted a photogenic face, a nice figure, well rounded tits, and an ass that most guys would like to sink their fingers or their teeth into. But all of this only focuses on the surface stuff. On the inside, I want to make a difference. I want to be recognized for what I can do. I graduated from UT Magna Cum Laud. I was pursued by a dozen major corporations. Half of them wanted me because I was eye candy. I chose this company because the head of corporate development and engineering actually read my resume and talked to my professors at school. The other reason was that they promised me that I could come back to Texas after their training program," She paused as our meals were put in front of us. 

"I was sent here with instructions to learn all I could about how our products were developed and to look for ways to improve the integration between disciplines. They told me to start with that project. If they have other plans or intentions for me, they didn't share them with me. I am starting my first professional job in a strange city where I only know a couple of people and I am terrified that I will screw everything up. As I told you this morning, I started Wednesday. By Wednesday night, I had been asked out by four men and two women. You were out of town and I was told to talk to you first and let you introduce me around. So for three days, I wandered the halls and tried to be nice to people. I didn't have an office to sit in or a computer to work on. That isn't much of a specification for you to work with, but that is the best I have to give you. Now what else do you want to know?" 

"I want to know how I can apologize to you and go back an hour and start over again. I stand by my assessment that there are plans for you, but I assumed that you knew more than you do." 

She took my hand and replied, "You have nothing to apologize for. You didn't know any of this and this morning, you made me feel very comfortable. Thank you." 

"Ok, then I'll apologize for others who should have known and treated you better. I will also apologize for not realizing the position you are in. I am human and I saw a beautiful, confident, and posed woman walk into my office this morning. I forgot what it was like on the first day in a new place in a new job. So now, I know what I have to do. We will solve some of those problems today and get to work on the other things. Let's eat our lunch. I have a 1:30 meeting and I think you should be involved in it." 

I watched her eat her lunch with a new set of eyes and what I saw, I didn't envy. She was indeed a beautiful and posed woman and I had no doubts that most people she came in contact with never saw beyond the obvious. But I could now also see her vulnerability. She was poised enough to handle most social situations, but still needed to develop the feeling that she fit into her career. I didn't have a clear plan on how to do that, but I did know a few things that would help. The first thing was to get her a space to call her own and then get her something to sink her teeth into. After that, I would work on how to blend her into the system. 

A lot of the earlier tension disappeared and our drive back to the office. I felt that she had been able to relax a little as we both laid our cards on the table. When we got back to my office, I led her next door and opened the door. "Heather, this will be your office for the time being, but be aware that they can and do move walls and offices around as needs change. Make it as comfortable as you want, it is your workspace. After our meeting, I will show you the log-in procedures for the computer. We have never had a problem in our area, but I would suggest that you lock your purse and any valuables in the small cabinet over there to be safe. There is no sense in encouraging temptation. Now let's go to the meeting and see if we can move this project along." I started to leave when her hand stopped me. 

"Allen, thank you. Even this has made a difference. I will look to you for support and guidance until I can get my feet wet. I have never been shy about asking questions. I will do the very best I can for you." 

I turned back to look at her, "Heather, you don't owe me anything; you owe it to yourself. I will do my best to show you the opportunities and the pitfalls, but you will have to earn the respect you want on your own. I seldom close my office door, but something is wrong with it and it keeps closing on its own. I'll try to remember to bring a jam to keep it open. If you need something from me, just walk in. You don't need to knock. For now, I will be including you in any technical meeting where I think you can make a contribution. You said that you were supposed to split time between Jerry and I. I think that the three of us will have a meeting tomorrow morning and work out the mechanics of that. How does that sound?" 

"I like the sound of that just fine and I appreciate what you said. Let's go to the meeting and see what we will see." She was smiling at me and had the twinkle in her eye again. 

I led her to the engineering conference room where we were met by four sets of bulging eyes. "Good afternoon guys. Before we begin, put your eyeballs back in their sockets and Brad, you are drooling. This is Heather Harlowe; I assume that you read the e-mail from Reynolds. It clearly said that we are to offer her our support. That does not include offering to father her children or to fulfill your most extreme sexual fantasies. In fact, you might want to find your manners; I suspect that she will be able to teach all of us things...about engineering. Heather, do you want to say anything?" 

"Thank you Allen." Then she went right to the heart of the matter "Guys, I don't mind you looking; I am used to it and can shrug it off. Right now, I need to earn your respect as a peer and that will take time I am sure. For the record, during breaks I would prefer that we talk about baseball or fishing than what I am wearing. I am here to learn and offer any expertise I have to offer. So let's get down to what is going on." 

I could see that several guys got the message while one still had visions of orgies in his mind. I replied, "To bring Heather up to speed, this project is to find a way to reduce the size of a process controller by 50%. The current ones are big and heavy and are hard to work on during maintenance shutdowns. We have several ideas on how to do that, but seem to be bogging down on each approach. That is what we want to try to hammer out today. Here is a drawing and the specs that we need to achieve. We basically have a clean slate to work with as long as we can meet the operating spec. Brad, show us what you are doing." 

Brad began describing the approach he was working on and almost immediately, Heather took out her tablet computer and starting taking notes. An hour later, we went back to my office and Heather looked like she was on a high. We picked up a cup of coffee on the way. 

"Allen, that was a perfect start. I understand what each of them is facing and I think I can offer some suggestions, but I want to study it some more tonight. How should I present my suggestions to them?" 

"We could hold another meeting, but I think that for your sake, you should talk to each guy individually. That will show them that you know what you are talking about and start the respect process." She nodded. "After you talk to them and get their feedback, write up a report and send it to me and copy all of the others. Let me show you the log in process on the computer." 

We spent thirty minutes going over the basic and secondary log ins and then I excused myself to go to the restroom. As I neared the door, Jerry appeared next to me and asked, "What happened to you? I thought that we were going to have lunch and you were going to tell me that I was wrong about Heather." He was showing that grin that I knew well. 

"A couple of things came up. First, you weren't wrong; but if you try to act on what you are thinking, you will be making a huge mistake. There is a lot more to her than what you see." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I don't know for sure, but she is here for a reason and that comes from corporate. Next, she is supposed to split her time between our two departments and we need to get her up to speed quickly. She will also be making a contribution as she can. Don't take that lightly. Finally, do you remember your first day and week when we started here?" 

"Sure; like it was yesterday. Everyone ignored me and then they put me in the library to review about a hundred drawings and plans. I was ready to quit at the end of the first month." 

"Exactly; and that is what she is feeling except that she isn't being ignored. The problem is that she is being recognized for all of the wrong reasons. Let's meet in my office in the morning at 9:00 and work out how we can utilize her to our best advantage." 

"Good move. How did you figure this out?" 

"I had lunch with her and we talked." 

"She turned me down for lunch." His nostrils flared a little. I knew what that meant also. 

"Don't take it personally. Reynolds told her to look to me to mentor her and get her started. We needed to talk and it was lunchtime." 

"He did, huh? I may have to talk to that old fart. I have twenty minute seniority on you, you know." 

"And he knew that you would be thinking with your little head rather than you big one. Give her a month to get her feet wet before you turn on the charm." 

"A month? I can do that. Nine at your casa." 

I finally made it to the restroom and resolved my problem. When I returned, Heather was sitting in my office again. 

I looked at her with surprise. "A problem already?" 

She smiled, "Just a little one. Explain your file numbering system. I tried to find the drawings on the old project and I see that you use some identifiers that we didn't talk about during my training." 

"I should have thought about that; sorry. It is our local system that has been around since before I got here. We were a separate company back then and were bought out about twenty years ago. They integrated all of the drawing procedures, but left us some latitude for local needs. The numbering system is what you were taught. What we do is to add some alpha abbreviations in front to tell us more about the project without having to read a lot of stuff. We get projects from three sources; internal development, customer specs, and other sources. So the first letter is an 'I', a 'C', or an 'O'. That is all there is until we have an approved design; then we add an 'A' as the second letter. After that, we do the detail and final engineering to make final drawings and specs for production and add an 'R' to it. When it is approved and released for production, we add another 'R.' You will hear people talk about a double R and that means that you can't alter anything without approval. If the project doesn't go forward or is cancelled before production, they put and 'X' at the end and those are filed as dead. So you are looking for a 'CX' with the project number. That design never got final approval and died. If you bring it back to life, the X will still stay there, but we will add the other letters as appropriate. Once you get familiar with it, you can just look at the drawing or file and know exactly what its current status is." 

"That makes perfect sense and is a lot simpler than a twelve digit number with four dots in it." 

"I agree; like I said, it is an old system, but it still works very nicely. Anything else?" 

"I hate to ask this, but I have a little problem today that you might be able to help me with." 

"Ask and if it is within my power, I will do it." 

She took a deep breath and then started, "For the next couple of months, I am staying at my aunt's apartment since she will be traveling. Like I said, my things are being shipped in and should be here today. But my car has been at my parents' house. My brother drove it up today and left it at the airport for me. My aunt has a meeting tonight; so I don't have a ride to her apartment. If I can get there, I can call a cab to take me to the airport to pick up my car and then I will be able to get around. Can you give me a lift to my aunt's place after work?" 




Engineering a Perfect Solution



I thought for a minute and then picked up the phone and called Crys. "Hi honey; listen, are you up for seafood tonight?" I heard her response which was 'Always.' "Fine, meet me there at 6:30. I will be bringing a new employee with me. She needs to pick her car up at the airport." I listened and then replied, "Yes, she is a she and yes she is very beautiful and you will like her because you and she are just alike." I grinned at her last comment before I hung up. Heather looked confused. 

"In answer to your question, instead of you fighting all of that crap, we will meet my wife for dinner. The place is right on the way to the airport. After dinner, I will take you to get your car. How does that sound?" 

"You don't have to do that, but if you do, I will be eternally grateful." She paused for a moment and then asked, "I take it that she was asking about me being another woman in your life and what I looked like." 

"She was teasing me. We play the spouse protects his or her turf stuff frequently. I am usually the one who teases her because she works with a lot of horny men. She isn't jealous at all and I meant what I told her; she will like you. She is a statistician and works in demographics for an ad agency. She can crunch numbers that most people don't even know exist." I could see Heather's nostrils flare with excitement. 

"How cool is that? I would love to pick her brain. I took stat of course, but there is a lot more that I would like to know." 

"You will get your chance starting tonight. It is four now; let's get out of here at 5:30. It will take about an hour to get to the restaurant in the evening traffic." 

She had a twinkle in her eye when she asked, "You grinned just before you hung up. What did she say?" 

"You don't want to know." 

"You might be surprised. Tell me." 

"She said that I can't sleep with you until after she does. Now, I expect that I have totally embarrassed you and you think that we are very kinky." 

Instead of being embarrassed, she simply asked, "Does your wife sleep with other women?" 

"Not that I know of. She just says that to keep me in line." 

Heather smiled, "That's what I figured, but thought I would clarify it first. I am looking forward to meeting her." She paused and then added, "For the record, I have never slept with a woman either, but I am more comfortable around a woman than most men. I get hit on by a lot of women, but generally, I like having women friends." 

"You and Crys will get along just fine." 

Heather rose and went back to her office while I checked my e-mail again before turning to a couple of new reports. 

At 5:30, I stood up and stretched and then went to Heather's office. She was so deeply involved in something on the computer that she didn't notice my presence. "It is 5:30, Heather; are you ready to get out of here?" 

"Look at this." She turned her monitor so that I could see it. "When you built this, you used two gears with a short link between them. If we took a double gear, one larger and one smaller, we could save that half inch." 

"That would require a custom designed gear which we didn't have time to do and if I remember right, they needed to work at different speeds." 

"They do but the difference in speed is small and would still be within the specs if we set the speed half way between their design speeds. And we have time to get a custom gear designed and made this time." 

I thought about it for a minute and then announced, "Get your things; you are making me look bad eight years after the fact." 

"I am not! You made an elegant and great design based on what you had to work with then. This time, some of those constraints aren't there. Your design is still valid; actually, it is flawless. This one little thing can make a big difference and save a ton of time now. And yes, I am ready; let's go meet your wife." She rose and took her purse and we left to meet Crys. 

As I pulled onto the freeway, I went into my normal routine of thinking about work things. I immediately went to Heather's idea and quickly discovered that she was right. Then I thought about how to make it happen. I was thinking about several options when Heather tentatively asked, "Are you angry about my idea?" 

I realized that I must have given her the wrong impression. "Heavens no, Heather. You are right and I don't have a single problem with it. I was trying to think about how to make it happen so we could try it out. We have a new computer controlled milling machine to make prototypes, but no one has been to school yet to learn how to program it." 

"Is it the National 2100, by chance?" 

"Yes, it is. Do you know it?" 

"I don't know the machine itself, but my professor was the one who wrote the software for it. I helped him and I can write at least some basic programs for it." 

"You shouldn't have said that because now, you have another job on your plate." I grinned at her but she was beaming. 

After that, I shut down my usual thought process and we talked about her home and college experiences. That made the drive in traffic much more pleasant than brooding over how to turn a piece of metal into a precision part. 

When we arrived at the restaurant, I saw Crys' car in the lot and knew that we already had a table. I led Heather inside while holding her elbow. Once inside, it was easy to spot Crys because she stood up and smiled. I also noticed that she gave Heather a quick but thorough inspection as we walked to the table. She had already had a bottle of wine and three glasses waiting. 

"Honey, this is Heather Harlowe. She started with us last week while I was gone. I just met her this morning and am totally impressed. Heather, this is the love of my life. Her name is Crystal, but if you want to stay on her good side, call her Crys." 

Crys smiled at Heather and said, "Forgive my husband; he has a bad habit of understating the obvious. He said that you were beautiful, but you are way beyond that." 

Before Heather could reply, I said, "Crys, Heather and I had this discussion at lunch. She is very aware of how people see her, but wants to earn her stripes professionally." 

Crys replied, "A woman after my own heart. But I am still going to keep a close eye on this bad boy. If he gives you any problems, call me and I will fix it." 

"Thank you Crys; I appreciate that, but he told me that you wouldn't let him sleep with me until after you had." 

Crys turned red and then swatted my arm. "I can't believe that you actually told her that. You are in my dog house for the rest of the night." 

"Yes, mistress." I grinned, Heather grinned, and then Crys grinned. 

From that moment on, I might have been the waiter or busboy. The two women spent five minutes talking about girl things and then they were into numbers and statistics. I wasn't lost, but I was ignored. I had to interrupt their talk to order what we would have for dinner. After that, all I did was keep their wine glasses full and watched as both Crys and Heather just flowered before my eyes. Crys isn't shy, but she is a lot like me about work. Heather brought out her warm personality and she was also obviously absorbing a lot of things from Crys in return. 

I knew that I just needed to support both of them and that is what I did. When dinner was over, I ordered coffee and the talk began to slow down. I finally said, "So, I take it that the two of you can get along without knives or guns." 

Crys replied, "Hush, you. My new friend deserves better." 

Heather giggled and then replied, "Crys, don't be hard on him. He has treated me perfectly since he didn't even know that I existed until this morning. I already feel confident that I will enjoy working under him. Oops, I mean with him." 

Crys replied, "You would feel that same either way. I can tell you that working with Allen will be a lot easier than having to deal with his best friend Jerry. Have you met him yet?" 

"Yes, this morning." She grinned, "I felt very confident that if he had his way, my bra and panties would have been on his desk and that we would be taking the day off." 

"Yes, you have met Jerry. Allen, I hope that you can tone him down for Heather's sake." 

"I have already tried, but it will still be a day-to-day thing." I looked at Heather and added, "I told you to not underestimate Jerry. He is a brilliant engineer, but sometimes he thinks with his little head before his big head kicks into gear."  

Heather nodded and replied, "I figured that out. If my clothes got here today, there won't be that much for him to look at tomorrow." 

Crys said, "Heather, you could wear a full bear skin and Jerry would still look at you with lust in his eyes. I think that it is the Italian in him. Come to think of it, if you are free Saturday for brunch, you can meet his wife and she can tell you how to handle his oversized libido." 

"Let me put it this way, I know my aunt; then I met Allen. Now I have met you. That about sums up the potential I have for a social life so far. I would be more than happy to meet you and Jerry's wife on Saturday; I like girl company. Just tell me where and when." They exchanged phone and e-mail numbers. 

Crys then looked at me with a grin. "The airport is ten minutes from here and it is twenty minutes to the house. If you aren't home in forty minutes, I will file for divorce in the morning. Understand?" 

"Heather, if we get hung up in traffic between here and the airport, can I stay at your aunt's house tonight. I will need to look for another place to live tomorrow during lunch." 

Heather grinned and replied, "Certainly. Anything for my boss; but I warn you that her sofa isn't very comfortable." Both Crys and Heather giggled as I just shook my head. 

We walked out to our cars and the two women shared a hug and cheek kiss. Then, I helped Heather into the passenger seat of my car and we left for the airport. This time, she was the silent one during the short drive. Once I was at the entrance to the long term parking area, she turned to me and said with full seriousness, "Allen, I can't tell you how happy I am about today and especially about tonight. I was actually a little afraid of how Crys would respond to me. Some women do go ballistic if they are insecure in their marriage. I didn't feel that way about Crys at all. I hope that we can continue to see each other and become closer. I think I can learn a lot from her." 

"I don't think that this will be a problem. Like I told you, she is a lot like me. She focuses on work, but really likes to let the pressure go with someone she is comfortable with. You will also like Melissa, Jerry's wife. You will find her to be quite different though. She is very beautiful and polished like you are, but she is also very down home behind her professional front. She and Crys work at the same company and we have all been friends since college. Melissa can introduce you to people and things that neither Crys nor I can. I suspect that you have hit the mother lode during your first week. But feel free to call or write Crys; she will love it." 

"Thank you." She leaned over and gave me light kiss on the cheek right next to my mouth. 

As she got out of the car, I said, "I will wait here until you leave. Drive carefully and I'll see you in the morning." She nodded and then disappeared through the small terminal. A few minutes later, I saw a sporty car pull up to the gate and easily saw her profile and face behind the wheel. I felt that like everything else about Heather, the car was perfect for her. I followed her to the main drive where I turned right and she turned left. 

I walked into the house forty five minutes after we had left the airport and found Crys sitting on the sofa. "Sorry about being late. There was a wreck at the exit from the freeway. I had to take the long way around to get here." 

"Likely story." 

"Come on, Crys; you know as well as I do..." 

"I know, I am teasing you. I saw the wreck on the news a few minutes ago and besides, Heather called me when she left the airport and told me that you were on the way home. Now, to get out of my doghouse tonight, drop those clothes and pour us each a brandy. You can tell me what you are really feeling in the hot tub before I take you to bed and remind you who you are married to." 

I smiled and replied, "I know damn well who I am married to." By the time I was finished saying that, my shirt was already on the floor. 

The next morning, I was delayed a few minutes when I ran across Bill Reynolds as he was leaving for a meeting. The conversation was short but important. He simple asked, "How is she doing?" I told him about our first day including dinner with Crys. His reply, "I knew that you would figure it out. Continue and use your best judgment. She will be a superstar." 

Then I entered the building and picked up a cup of coffee before going to my office. Heather's light was on, but her door was closed. I decided to leave her alone and went inside to check my e-mail before 9:00. 

Jerry entered and sat down. "So, where is she?" 

I leaned over and knocked on the wall. We heard a muffled, "Be right there." Then she walked through the door carrying several things in her hands. Today, she was still very nice to look at, but in a toned down way. She wore slacks with a blouse and sweater. "Good morning, Allen, Jerry. I talked to Brad this morning; here is what I told him. I'll talk to the others after we are through." She slid a half page report towards me. "And here, try this." 

"And this is?" She handed me a flash drive. 

"The program for the milling machine." 

I stood up and went to the door and called Brad over. "Are you up to running the new milling machine yet?" 

"Sure, if we had a program to run. I'm supposed to go to the school next week." 

"Try this and let's see what happens. Try using a two by two hardened steel block." He looked at me with surprise, but took the flash drive and went towards the shop. 

When I turned back into my office, Heather was showing Jerry on the prototype where the change would be and where the extra space would be available. Jerry's eyes went back and forth between what she was showing him and what was barely hidden behind her sweater. She finished by asking, "Would this help?" 

Jerry turned to me and grinned, "Why didn't you think of that back then? You are the mechanical genius." 

"I was trying to see if you were as good as you claimed to be" 

"All right boys; there is too much testosterone running around in here this early in the morning." 

Jerry replied, "That isn't testosterone you smell; that is just pure bullshit." 

She shrugged her shoulders and said, "No difference." 

I couldn't retrain my laugh. "Touche'! Now let's get down to business." 

Fifteen minutes later, Jerry left with a smile on his face. Heather said, "That was easy." 

"Jerry and I are very different, but when it comes to work and what needs to be done, we are usually on the same page of the hymnal. A Monday morning update is simple and will get you up to speed faster than anything else. I'll have files on the active projects on your computer this afternoon. Now go take care of the babies; I have a 10:00. I probably won't be back until noon." 

"I won't be here over lunch. A certain beautiful woman I met last night is picking me up to show me a deli that she likes." 

"Bring me back a hot pastrami and swiss on rye with brown mustard and leave off the conspiracies." 

"Would I conspire against you?" She laughed. 

"Of course you would. This is just an excuse for her to tell you lies about me." I grinned. "Have fun, but not too much fun." 

"I wouldn't think of it." 

"Riiiight." I replied as I went out the door heading to the big marketing conference room. 

I came back to my office at 12:30 with two sheets of paper and question marks all over my face. I was tempted to say that someone in marketing had been smoking something that he shouldn't have, but the big guy sitting at the end of the table didn't think so. He wanted an assessment of its potential within a week. My only problem wasn't about its potential; it was that I couldn't see how we could do it in the configuration that they wanted. I was brooding over this when Heather walked in carrying a bag and wearing a smile. 

"Boss says, 'Eat.'" 

"You boss or Crys boss?" 

"Both. How was your meeting?" 

I slid the two pieces of paper over to her and opened the bag. Besides the sandwich there was a bag of chips, a bottle of water, and a slice of key lime pie. At least my lunch would be good. I started eating and looked up to find Heather reading and smiling as she did. Maybe she saw something that I hadn't seen. 

When she finished reading, I said between bites, "We have to give them an assessment of potential by next week. What do you see?" 

"I can write the report this afternoon, if you want." I almost choked. 

When I finished that bite, I replied, "You are definitely going to have to explain that attitude. Give me your best shot." 

"You eat; I'll talk. This is what I was actually doing in school; I wasn't expecting to be using it this soon. It is sort of the new wave in engineering and is slowly catching on. Take a car or truck or tractor. The first thing you look at is the spec of what you need to do and then you take a similar truck design and start adapting it with new or different parts. You enlarge or shrink things and add new pieces to it. Finally, you get a vehicle and test it. Some things don't work as you want and you have to redesign. After all of this, you get a vehicle you can put into production. You have spent literally years and a lot of money to get to that point. What you really end up with is same old truck updated to today. 

"Under this new concept, you start with the spec and expand on it to decide what you really want and need to do. You aren't looking for one size fits all. You are looking for the most comprehensive design to do the core task you need. Once you know that, then you start deciding how to achieve it. Sometimes an existing design is fine, but other times you have to think outside the box. You need wheels. Do you need two, three, four or more? How are you going to drive those wheels? An engine and transmission or four independent variable speed motors? What kind of fuel do you need to use? How fast or how much of a load are you expecting to need? City traffic, Interstate highway, or intermittent use? You get the picture. Once you answer the questions, you start putting the right sized pieces together in a workable manner. You don't have to have the motor in front or back; it can be under the passenger cab or located at each wheel. The frame and then the body only needs to be the minimum needed to protect the equipment and the occupants. In short, you put together something that meets the core spec. When you are through, you have a unique vehicle to do the job you need done, See?" 

"Sort of. But they want a continuous process; trash in and useable material out." 

"You are thinking about a continuous conveyor belt with a huge motor running it to move the total volume and mass of the trash. Think four, five or six smaller conveyors each handling only one thing. Take the metal. The first thing we have to do is separate the ferrous from the non-ferrous metal. Only the metal goes through the magnets and the ferrous metal is dropped onto a second conveyor and they are processed separately. Running the glass and paper through the magnets requires a larger chamber, stronger magnets, bigger drive motors and stuff. The paper only needs to go through a shredder/pulper. The glass needs to be washed before it is crushed for recycling. We talked about that issue in school. Actually, glass needs to be sorted by color or at least the color additive so that you don't end up with an ugly brown glass as the output." 




Engineering a Perfect Solution



"You have my attention. So how do we approach this project? 

"We get all of the engineers in both departments together someplace and start talking about each thread. They gave us pretty clear but broad idea about the quantities of each material and what they want at the output. After we talk through each process, we start drawing lines and putting the pieces on the lines. Once we have that, the mechanical guys can flesh out their required details and the electrical guys can draw out the control system." 

"Can you be ready to do this on Friday?" 

"Sure. I need a couple of days to clarify a couple of things, but I can be ready Friday." 

"How long would this meeting take?" 

"Plan on all day which means we will need lunch for everyone. We don't want to stop but for short breaks. Everyone needs to stay focused." 

"You do your homework and I'll set it up. I think I now understand why you are here." 

"Oh, before I forget, Crys said to tell you that you are taking your two favorite women out sailing Friday night. Schedule the meeting to end by 4:30." I heard the words but my mind was picturing a network of conveyors moving material. That thought process ended abruptly when she added, "Crys also wants you to decide when you are going to start my sailing lessons. I don't know which excites me more; this project or learning how to sail." 

She turned and went to her office as I reached for the telephone to call Crys. I stopped when I saw that I had an e-mail from her. That was a sure sign that she didn't want me to call her. It read, "Don't call. I will be in a meeting all afternoon. We'll talk tonight." I quickly translated that into wife-speak. It simply meant that we weren't going to discuss it until later when she could use her full range of physical and mental attributes to convince me to do what she wanted. I decided that I would hold out for the full physical treatment before I caved in. 

Then I set about working out how to put this meeting together. I quickly realized that we didn't have a suitable room to hold a meeting for thirty engineers. I would need to reserve a room at the nearby hotel for a meeting that size. It was an easy decision to make when I also realized that we definitely didn't want the cafeteria to cater the lunch. The hotel lunches were far better. The only drawback was that I would have to get Reynolds approval to spend the money. I rose to go to his office fully prepared to grovel a little to get the approval. 

I stayed in Bill's office for an hour. The approval took five minutes and then he wanted to talk about other things. Those other things were about how we could adapt our current engineering group to meet these new kinds of specifications. He said that there were several more in the pipeline. We discussed several options, but they all came back to combining the two sections into one and creating teams of talent depending on the requirements. He said that he would talk to Jerry and then probably talk to both of us later. I could tell that he was confused by this new approach to projects. He was an old school engineer who still preferred to sit and think at a drawing board rather than work on a CAD computer. I empathized with him, but reminded him of how much the newer systems had improved speed and quality. I also offered that Heather had shown me that this new system might be just as beneficial. His last comment was, "I hope so." 

When I got back, Brad came in and laid the new gear in front of me. I was surprised at how quickly it had been produced and how nice it looked. I thanked him and then knocked on the wall. Heather was there in a minute. "Oh yes, that looks nice. Tomorrow we can have the tech polish it and clean up the rough edges for us to test." 

"I think it looks great as is." I replied. 

"I know; but it can be better. That is the part I don't know. I worked with the professor on getting the first cutting done. After I went on to another project, another student worked with him on refining the cut and polishing the product. The full software will turn out production grade prototypes." 

I called our tech to come to my office. When he arrived, I said, "Larry, this is Heather and she wrote the software for the new milling machine to cut this gear. She wants it polished and cleaned up. Can you do that?" 

"Yes sir; I'd be happy to. Anything else?" 

Heather said, "When you are done, take these two gears out of here and put this one in. You will probably have to adjust the shaft a little. While you are doing that, take this motor out. Jerry will get us a variable speed one to test with. We will mount it externally for the tests and then replace it with a fixed speed one when we decide what speed works best." 

Larry looked at me and I just nodded. "Larry, if Heather asks for anything, just assume that it has my approval and do it just like you do for all of the other guys. Thanks. You are a good man." 

He smiled and as he left, he said, "It will be a pleasure; she is a lot prettier than the other guys to work with." Heather actually blushed. 

I decided to add something and said, "So are you happy now; you are one of the guys." 

She grinned in spite of her pink cheeks, "You will be hearing about that comment from both me and Crys. She said to not let you bully me." 

"Me? Bully you? I don't think so." 

"That is because you think like a man. You are always supposed to recognize that I am a woman." 

"As a man, I can assure you that I am very well aware that you are a woman." 

"Thanks, but you are still in the doghouse until we start the sailing lessons." Then she went back to her office. 

I turned and called up Crys' e-mail and wrote, "You have been conspiring against me. None of your feminine wiles will work on me tonight." I sent it and as I expected got an almost instant reply. "Wanna bet?" 

Even if I was a betting man, I knew that this was one bet I wouldn't take. I finished up and got ready to go home. Heather was again deep in the computer so I stopped and said, "Earth to Heather. It is 5:30 and we don't pay overtime." 

Her head popped up and said, "5:30 already. I'll walk out with you. I guess that you have figured that when I get started on something that I lose track of time." 

"I'll have an alarm clock on your desk in the morning." 

"No, just do what you did and give me a little warning." Then she got that grin on her face that I was beginning to recognize. "I hear that you have been mean to my friend today. I think that you need to go home and take really good care of her tonight. She needs some tender loving care." 

"You think that, huh?" 

She just grinned and didn't say anything. She simply got in her car and drove off with a wave. 

The next morning, I went to the office well loved and very satisfied. I caved in early because she had made a perfect dinner and had seduced me skillfully. I do love my wife. My first stop was in Jerry's office. 

"Hey, dude. What's up this morning?" 

"The usual. Tell your people that we will all be having a joint meeting at the hotel across the street tomorrow all day and to have their thinking caps on." 

"Heather?" 

"It is her show." 

"What is it about?" 

"We got in a spec that if I showed it to you, you would roll your eyes. It is going to require all of us to put our thinking caps on and look at something with new eyes. I now realize that this is why she is here. This could be very important. Make sure your people are there and you too. Reynolds got someone to watch our phones." 

"It must be important for him to spring for the hotel and someone to watch the phones. We'll be there." 

"Thanks." 

"Are you up for golf Saturday?" 

"Sure. Crys is going to introduce Heather to Melissa. We will both probably be free all day." 

"That could be good or bad. Good if Mel doesn't tell Heather too much about me and bad if she does." 

"You know exactly what it will be." 

"True," Then he shrugged, "but I can work around that. It's just details. Ten at the course. I already have a tee time." 

"I'll be there." 

Heather was lost in her computer all day until I reminded her that it was time to call it a day. She said that she was ready for the meeting and more than ready for the sailing afterwards. I nodded and I walked her out to her car again. 

That night, Crys dropped another bomb after she warmed me up again. Since she met Heather, she had been spending a lot of time warming me up. "Honey, why don't you leave Heather's car at work and you bring her out to the boat tomorrow night after your meeting." 

"But then I would have to drive her back late." 

"No you won't. I invited her to stay with us tomorrow night since we are going to brunch with Melissa while you and Jerry play golf." 

"Ah, now I see. How long have the two of you been planning this?" 

"Just a couple of days." 

"You have only known her a couple of days. Out with it." 

She started rubbing my chest and started slowly. "Honey, from the moment I met her, it is like I met myself ten years ago. She is so much like me except that she is taller. We think alike, we have the same interests, we..." 

"She turns you on, doesn't she?" I asked quietly. Crys buried her face in my chest as her ears and the rest of her face turned red. "It's all right, honey. She is a beautiful woman and you are right, she also reminds me of you when I met you. You don't have to worry about me. Follow your heart. I will always be here waiting for you to come home." 

From my chest I heard a weak, "I don't know what to do." 

I smiled and replied, "I didn't know what to do about you either, but it worked out just fine. Just be yourself and whatever will happen will happen." 

We said no more that night and she said nothing else for quite some time after that. But I could tell that things would be changing slowly. I wondered for a brief moment why I wasn't angry or jealous. The truth was that I trusted Crys completely and knew that she wasn't going to leave me. I also felt a trust towards Heather. I had only known her a week but I had seen both her strength and her vulnerability. She seemed perfectly natural and without guile. If she and Crys were attracted to each other, I felt that I could support both of them as was needed. That night, we fell asleep with each of us holding our own council. As if to tell me to not worry, she snuggled next to me and let me hold her closely like we always did at special times. 

The next morning, I went directly to the hotel and made sure that everything was ready. Heather arrived ten minutes after I did, I couldn't detect any nervousness, but decided to check. "So are you ready for your big show?" 

"Technically, yes. I am concerned about how they will respond to me and this." 

"Don't be. Two third of these guys are younger than I am; so they are closer to your way of thinking already. The others will reserve their thoughts until they get comfortable with things. You will know when they begin to ask questions or offer suggestions. That will tell you what you need to know. You will do fine. I have confidence in you and am eager to get deeper in this." 

"Thanks. I will do my best." 

"That is all anyone will ever ask of you. Here come the first arrivals. They will want the coffee and Danish before we start. I'll introduce this and then you. Is that all right?" 

"Yes, please. That was one of the things I was concerned about." 

I greeted the first arrivals while she set up her presentation. She also put five large sheets of paper on the wall with tape. Twenty minutes later, everyone was there with a cup of coffee and was seated. I took a deep breath and went to the head of the group. 

"Good morning guys. Thanks for being prompt this morning. We have been tasked to look at a project that doesn't fit very well with our usual way of doing things. So we are going to see if we can work it out a new way; we are going to work together from day one. Our goal is not to solve all of the problems today or even in the near future. Our goal today is to come to a consensus that we can do this job. That is all we need to do. We will then tell the guys who make the big paychecks how we feel about this project." I paused and looked around and didn't see any problems yet. 

"Since we are all grounded in how we do things and this will require a different outlook, we are going to rely on someone who has experience doing this. If you haven't met her, I am quite certain that everyone knows that we have a new addition to our department. This is Heather Harlowe and she will lead us through this process today. Some of you will buy into this quickly; others might need a little time to adjust. Take your time and Heather will get us to where we need to be. Heather, it is yours." 

I went to the back and sat next to Jerry and then turned my attention to Heather. The first thing I noticed was that she had dressed for effect. She wore dark blue slacks, a light blue blouse with a blue vest. Her hair was back in a pony tail. There was no doubt that she was a woman and a beautiful one at that, but there was nothing about her appearance that would be a distraction. She was ready for business. Two hours later, she owned the audience. The younger guys were already asking questions and offering suggestions. She wrote all of the suggestions on a sheet on the wall. By noon, the older guys were involved in the discussion. After lunch, she started on the individual process lines. Some of them were easy and quickly resolved. The more difficult ones took longer, but the group as a whole offered a lot of suggestions. 

Finally, at 3:30 she began to wrap things up. "I think that we are mostly agreed that we can do this project and others like them. Does anyone disagree with that?" 

One of the older raised his hand and Heather acknowledged him. "Heather, when you started, I wasn't sure about this. But the idea grew on me as we went. I just want to thank you for how you handled this today. I still have some processing to do for myself, but I will support you and this project any way I can." 

"Thank you, Mr. Thompson." 

"My name is Chet. Mr. Thompson was my father." He grinned at the young woman who was about the same age as his own daughter." 

"Thank you, Chet. If that is it; Allen, do you have anything to add?" 

"Thanks Heather. I told you that this was new, but I personally see a lot of potential in addressing projects this way. I can't speak for Jerry, but for my guys, I have no problem in applying this approach to even the smaller projects we work on. Call a team together if you want. Not all of our projects will fit this approach especially when the customer specifies what they want. But I have been assured by the big guys that there are more projects like this in the pipe. So we need to be prepared to be flexible. I see by the clock that it is quit and go home time. Have a good weekend and it is back to normal on Monday." 

The room emptied slower than I was expecting. A number of guys approached Heather to thank her or to offer afterthoughts. Finally, there was only Jerry, Heather, and I left in the room. Heather was rolling up the worksheets. From experience, I knew what was going to happen next. 

Jerry went up to Heather and said, "Are you up for a quiet drink? You have been busy today and must be exhausted." 

She flashed her winning smile and replied, "Thanks Jerry; it has been a busy day, but I feel exhilarated. I appreciate the offer of a drink, but I have plans for tonight. Maybe another time." 

"You're sure. Just a drink." 

"Thanks, but I have to get going to change and all that stuff." For a moment I wondered if our plans for tonight had changed. Then I realized that she had blown Jerry off without pissing him off. She was definitely a multi-talented young woman. 

I approached her and asked, "Are you ready to go?" 

"Hell no. I am so wound up, I need you to buy me a drink first so I can settle down. Besides, I want to hear your report card." 

"The last part is easy; you got an A+ for today. Let's go into the bar and get you wound down." 

"You better or I will jump your body when we get on the boat." 

"I certainly wouldn't want that." 

"Asshole. I want something big and cold." 

"A beer or a wine?" 

"No, a double scotch on the rocks; single malt." 

"Ah, a woman after my own heart." I led her to the bar holding her elbow. I could feel the energy coursing through her arm. Doing something like this definitely got her motor running. I was also glad that we were going sailing. If Jerry had taken her out for a drink, she would have been putty in his hands. 

While we waited for our drinks to arrive, I asked, "You weren't really concerned about what I thought about your presentation today, were you?" 

"Sure I was." She paused and then added. "Allen, I like you. I like working for and with you. Today was my first opportunity to stand up and be a big girl. You are damn right I wanted your approval." She softened her voice and said, "Mainly, I really appreciated your introduction and closing remarks." 

"What did I say? I didn't even think about it much before I said anything." 

"That is exactly the point. You didn't make a big issue about me being a woman; you didn't say to be kind to the newbie. You introduced me as a peer with experience that might be valuable. I can't tell you how much confidence that gave me. You also presented this as an opportunity and not a demand. When you closed, you reinforced that we need to be flexible because that is what this is really all about. In short, you set me up perfectly and then closed it out with just the right words. I can't thank you enough." 

"Hey, you did the hard work and the response showed it. When Chet said what he said, he was speaking for all of the older guys. Everyone respects his judgment. Winning him over was the best thing you did today. I am very proud of you." 

She leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder and whispered, "Thanks. That is what I needed to hear. When we finish our drink, I am ready to go sailing." 

"Me too." 

An hour later, we pulled into the parking lot at the marina. Crys' car was already there. She had told me to just come to the boat and that she would pick up some things to eat and drink. It was obvious that Heather had calmed somewhat, but she still seemed very animated about going out tonight. We walked down the dock to our boat and her eyes grew bigger. "I thought that it was a small boat like a day sailor or something." 

"Nope; twenty five feet of cruising boat. We have a dream to take it down to the coast sometime and sailing offshore a little and along the Intercoastal waterway. Maybe someday, that time will come." I took her hand and helped her down as Crys emerged from the cabin. She was wearing shorts and a crop top and looked beautiful. 

The two women met with a tight hug and kiss like they hadn't seen each other in months rather than days. Crys then said, "Get your bag and we'll go down in the cabin so you can change. And you, if I see any eyes peeking, you will be the first blind engineer at the company." 

"Would I do that?" I replied in my most innocent voice. 

Both women giggled, but Crys said, "In a heartbeat." Then she led Heather into the cabin and closed the shutters. I smiled and changed into my shorts on the deck. I was fairly certain that no one would peek at me changing. Then I set about preparing the boat to go out. 

A few minutes later, the two emerged from the cabin carrying a basket. I had to swallow deeply because I was now looking at almost all of Heather at her best. The only possible flaw I could detect was a mole or a birthmark just above her halter top. The two settled down on one side of the cockpit as I turned on the engine and backed out of the slip. A few minutes later, we were outside the breakwater and I shut the engine down and we were enclosed in the silence of the evening. Then I went about setting the sails. As I did that, I could hear Heather eagerly telling Crys about her presentation. Crys was sharing her excitement and patting her thigh as she did. 




Engineering a Perfect Solution



I was slowly winding down and letting the early evening air flow over me when I heard Crys say, "Sure. Go ask him; he is the captain." 

A moment later, Heather was sitting next to me and I could see those long, flawless legs close up. "Can I steer for a little while?" 

"Sure." I scooted to the other side while still holding the wheel. "On a boat, the proper term is to ask to take the helm. All you do is to hold it gently. You don't need to fight it; just hold it where it is. The boat will go where you let it. That's good." I took her hand and turned it a little to the right and then to the left. "You can feel the difference in pressure as you moved the rudder in a different direction from which the boat is moving. For now just hold it in that area where there is no pressure." 

I left her alone for a few minutes to get the feel of how it felt. Then I began again, "When you have the helm, you are the captain and everyone has to do what you tell them. In a minute, you are going to tack and you must tell us exactly what to do." 

"No wait, you do it. I'll watch." 

"Nope. Honey, come lead her through the tack while I do the lines." I stood up and went to the front of the cockpit as Crys slid into my place. I heard her say, "You don't argue with the boss. All you are going to do is tell him what to do and when. And guess what, he will do exactly what you say. It can be a very powerful feeling. First, you are going to call out loud enough for all on board to hear you 'Prepare to come about.' Then you wait a minute and call out, 'Coming about.' When you do that, you will turn the wheel to the left quickly but smoothly until we are pointed just about at that light over there. When the bow gets there, stop turning and begin to turn slowly back while trying to keep the bow pointed at the light. Got it?" 

"Yes, but what is going to happen?" 

"When you start turning the wheel, Allen will release the main sail and when we pick up the wind during the turn, it will swing over to this side. We need to be sitting so we don't get hit in the head. Once he releases the main, he will release the front sail or jib and will begin to winch it over to this side. When they are both on this side and we are pointed at the light, he will adjust the two sails and tie them off. So are you ready?" 

"Yes." 

"Make your call." 

"Prepare to come about." 

"Louder. Anyone on the boat needs to be able to hear you even if they are in the cabin." 

"Prepare to come about." "Come about." 

She started turning the wheel and I released the main and started winching the jib. I could hear Crys telling Heather, "That was perfect. See how the nose is getting close to the light, begin easing off a little. If you wait, you will have to jerk it back. You don't realize it yet, but nothing happens really fast on sailboat unless the weather is really bad. There, the bow is pointed right at the light, the main is on this side along with the jib. Can you feel the boat picking up speed again? Just hold the course like you did before. Allen honey, are you ready for wine and nibbles?" 

"Are either of you ready to be nibbled?" 

Crys grinned at Heather and said, "Tell your crew to get himself together." 

Heather hollered, "Crew, stuff it." 

Crys added, "You will make a great captain, baby." 

As Crys went below, Heather said, "Hey where are you going? You can't leave me like this." 

I replied, "Sure we can; you are doing exactly what either of us would be doing and doing it very well, I might add." I went below and grabbed Crys around the waist and pulled her to me. "You handled that very well, my love." 

"Thank you, my love. I think that she will be a natural. She just seems to know exactly what to do and say." 

"You are a good teacher." 

"From the way she talks, you are better. Now get back out there before her nerves start up again. I'll be right up." 

I went back up and sat down next to Heather again. "Are you getting used to this yet?" 

"Yes and I love it. It is even better than I thought it would be. I just want to learn more." 

"Be patient, a few times out and you will be able to do it all by yourself." 

Crys came out with a platter, three glasses, and a bottle of wine. "He's right, Heather. Once you get comfortable with a boat this size, there is nothing that a woman can't do just as well as a man." 

"No Crys, that isn't quite right." 

"Ok smart ass, what can you do that Heather and I can't do?" 

"I can stand on this back deck and piss off the stern of the boat." 

"Oh God." Crys replied. 

Heather shot right back, "But I'll bet either one of us could push your ass off the stern and you could swim home." 

"Well done, Heather! Give the helm back to macho man there and let's have a glass of wine." 

Heather leaned over and whispered, "I'm sorry, I said that." 

"Don't be. Part of the fun of sailing is letting the stress out. You do it any way you can. Go have a glass of wine. I'll take over." 

"Thanks." She leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips. 

I knew that Crys was watching us, but decided to wait and see if she reacted. She didn't. A moment later, Heather was standing in front of me with a glass of wine in her hand. "Crys said that you might need this. She says that there is more where that came from." 

"Tell her thanks. In a little while, we will need to tack again. Do you want to try your hand with the lines this time if Crys helps you?" 

"Sure." 

"Crys, honey; I am going to tack in a few more minutes. Why don't you show Heather how to handle the lines?" 

Crys paused for a moment before she replied, "Sure. Come on up here Heather and I'll show you what we will be doing." 

I knew that during this one, Crys would be really close to Heather and I knew that they would probably make some body contact. I wanted to see how they each responded. 

When Crys was through telling her what they were going to do and I saw that the wine bottle and glasses were stable, I called out, "Prepare to come about." "Coming about!" I turned the wheel and saw Heather release the main sheet and then duck. She and Crys were pressed against each other and then they both reached for the jib lines. Together they winched the lines in until they were set. Their bodies were pressed together several times during this. Finally, Crys showed her how to trim the sails and they sat back down. It didn't take much imagination to see that both were aroused by the contact. They were both flushed and their nipples poked firmly into their tops. Now I realized that it was just a matter of time before one of them acted on their feelings. 

We sailed back to the dock and had the boat locked up and by 10:00. Heather rode home with Crys so I could stop off at the store and pick up some dessert for us. When I got home, they both had changed into something else and were wearing robes. There were three cups of coffee sitting on the table waiting for me. Heather got up and took the cake into the kitchen while I sat down next to Crys. 

"Did you have fun tonight, honey?" 

She replied, "Yes; I always have fun sailing with you, but I think Heather had more fun than both of us. Thanks for being a great sport and a great guy. She really likes you a lot." 

"She is special, for sure. I can tell you also have that special feeling for her." 

She blushed but didn't answer. I kissed her gently. 

"Am I interrupting something?" Heather asked as she came back in with three pieces of cake in her hands. 

Crys pulled away and replied, "Of course not. I have to beat him off frequently though. Come on and sit down. Maybe you can get the boss to decide when your sailing lessons will begin." 

Heather smiled and sat down next to me and asked, "Yes, when can we start?" 

I put on my shocked look and responded, "I thought that this is what we did tonight. You did everything you need to know tonight already." 

Heather looked shocked, but Crys swatted my arm. "That is true, but now you need to spend time with her and explain why she did all of these things. You know, coach her and answer all of her questions." 

"All of them? Hell, she will want to know the equations to calculate the best angle of attack in variable winds." 

This time it was Heather who swatted my arm while Crys roared with laughter. 

Heather asked, "Is he always like this at home?" 

Crys replied, "Trust me, at work he is all business, but at home he is all boy." 

I couldn't help myself and put my arm around Crys and cupped one of her breasts, "And Crys is all girl." That got me swatted by both women several times. 

When they finished, I stood up and said, "I am going to bed. I can't stand it when women talk about me behind my back in front of my face." 

Crys said sweetly, "Go on honey, I have lots of things to tell Heather about you." I kissed Crys and then did the same to Heather. Crys was laughing while Heather blushed as I walked toward the bedroom. 

I fell asleep quickly and probably didn't move all night. I woke at my regular time and found Crys in bed snuggling up to me. I smiled and hoped that they had a good evening. For a brief moment, I had a twinge of guilt that perhaps I had pushed either or both too far with my teasing. On the whole, I felt that I hadn't. Everything was in the realm of how Crys and I teased each other and I had done nothing unique to Heather. I went to the kitchen and made coffee. When either of them started moving around, I would start breakfast. 

I was drinking my first cup when Crys came out and stood by me before she leaned down and kissed me tenderly. "Good morning lover. I was concerned that I might have pushed you too far. Are you Ok?" 

I was surprised and replied, "I was concerned that I pushed you two too hard. I was totally fine." 

"That's what I thought, but I wanted to ask." 

I got up and made her a cup. "Did you two stay up late? I didn't know when you came to bed." 

"We talked for a couple of hours. You were sleeping pretty hard when I came to bed." 

"Did Heather enjoy the evening and all of our teasing?" 

"Actually, she really did; she just got embarrassed a couple of time, but only because she wasn't used to or expecting something. She admitted to me that she was so used to you and your work style, that seeing the playful side of you was both a little surprise, but a very nice one. She hopes that you will feel comfortable enough with her to continue that with her when you are not at work. She said that she hadn't had much opportunity to unwind like that for the past couple of years. As you told me, just take things slow and natural, but don't be afraid to tease or have fun with her too." 

I nodded. "So did you tell her all of my dirty secrets?" 

She grinned, "Only a couple. Mostly we talked about her and what she is looking forward to. She is staying at her aunt's apartment for a couple of months. During that time, she wants to look around and find the area she wants to live in and start looking for an apartment or a house to rent. It turns out that with all of her sophistication, charm, and polish, she is basically a home body. She likes going out to dinner and parties and stuff, but then she wants to come home and cook for herself, read, and develop some of her non-work interests like sailing. She is like you in that she wants to be able to separate work from play." 

"I'm glad to hear that. I would hate for her to become a workaholic who has no other interests beside work. Maybe she will find someone to date and have a social life with." 

Crys grinned a sly grin, "Actually, she said that she already has her eye on a guy who she is interested in. She didn't say much specific, but she said that she isn't in a rush and wants to see how things develop." 

"I am glad for her and think that she has the right attitude." It crossed my mind that it must be someone from work since she hadn't mentioned anything about getting out yet. I shifted the subject a little. "So how do you think that she will relate to Melissa?" 

"I don't think that there will be a problem with Mel at all. It might take a little for Heather to get used to Mel and her dominant ways, but we will see. I expect that Mel will invite her to some of her dinner parties and she will like that as long as Jerry behaves himself. How is he doing with her? You haven't mentioned that." 

"Pretty well, I think. He had his tongue hanging out the first day, but I told him to give her a break and to let her get comfortable. He seems to have accepted that. He was really impressed with her presentation yesterday although he did try to push her to go out for a drink afterwards. At that moment, he was the old Jerry on the trail of a scent." 

"How did she handle that?" 

"Just as you would expect. You would have been proud of her. She told him that she had plans and couldn't, but dangled the possibility for some other time." 

"Good girl. What did she do then?" 

"When he left, she turned to me and told me to buy her a drink so she could wind down. You wouldn't have guessed it by looking or talking to her, but she was really wound up as tight as a spring when she finished. She wasn't a glass of wine wound up; she wanted a double scotch on the rocks. I could feel it in her arm as I led her to the bar." 

"Oh my; she must have really been tied up. What did you do to bring her down?" 

"That is the thing, I didn't do anything special. I just told her that she had done well. The only thing that I said that might have had an impact was when I told her that I was proud of her." 

"That was it. She feels vulnerable as the only woman in a man's world and for her boss to tell her he was proud of her was just about like her boy friend telling her that he loves her." 

"That's the odd thing; I'm not her boss. She reports to Reynolds. Bill asked me to mentor her, but she is to split time between Jerry and I as needed." 

"To her, it doesn't matter who she reports to; she admires you because of how you have treated her. You are the one that she wants to be proud of her. It is kind of a girl thing." She sipped her coffee for a moment and then asked quietly, "Honey, you aren't going to have a problem if I continue to invite her over here for dinner or overnight like I did last night, are you?" 

"Of course not. You don't even need to ask; just do what you feel is right. I will probably have a couple of short trips coming up and the two of you can spend time together. I expect that she will also spend down time with Melissa and you too. I don't have a problem with anything you do with her." I was aware that there were several potential meanings in the words I said. 

"That's another thing. Mel is probably going to be doing more traveling for her accounts over the next several months. So I won't be seeing a lot of her. It would be a nice change to spend time with Heather instead." 

"Oh? Problems with Mel?" 

"No, not really. You know both of us; we are just like you and Jerry. She is the more dominant and demanding one and I go along like you do with Jerry. When I am with Heather, I feel like we are the same. Neither one of us controls things. I like that feeling for a change." 

"I can understand that. But I guess that this also means that Jerry will have more time to sniff around Heather too. So if she spends time with you that should keep the hound dog at bay." 

She grinned, "I had already thought about that too." 

We heard Heather moving around and I got up to make her coffee. When I brought it to the table, Crys said, "And this is another reason why I should hate her; she just gets out of bed and she looks drop dead beautiful already." 

Heather replied, "I love you too and I'll tell you what I always told my roommate when she said that same thing. Mother Nature didn't drop a cow patty when she made you either." Both Crys and I broke out in laughter. Heather gave Crys a nice hug and a brief lip kiss and then asked, "Is it all right if I give the captain a good morning hug and kiss too?" 

"Of course. He is actually just a big teddy bear. When you are here, just treat him like one. He like hugs and kisses and will only turn a light pink if he gets them from you." She gently pushed Heather in my direction. 

Heather gave me a hug like she did for Crys which insured that she unfettered breasts were pressed into my neck. Then she kissed my lips too. I suspect that I was a little darker than a light pink. 

I put the coffee in front of her as she sat down between us and asked me, "So did Crys tell you lies about me this morning?" 

"No more than what she told you about me." 

"Shit. Crys, I thought that we were friends." 

Crys put her most innocent voice to work. "But we are and I have no idea what that brute is talking about." 

It was time for me to get busy; so I got up and started breakfast. A moment later, Heather moaned and said, "Don't tell me that he cooks too." 

"Ok, I won't tell you that. Tell him if you prefer bacon or sausage and how you like your eggs." 

"Either on the bacon or sausage question and I like them scrambled with some onion and bell pepper if that isn't too much to ask." 

"That is how I do it anyway, although I also put some garlic and other things in also." I replied. 

"Crys you better marry him before I take him away from you." 

"As I recall, I think I did that once. I might loan him to you when he pisses me off though." 

"I can't imagine him pissing you off ever." 

"Oh it happens. A couple of times a year, he gets his macho up and thinks that he should be treated like a king. It usually happens after he has hung around Jerry for too long." Both Crys and Heather broke out in peals of laughter. 

"Hey, remember, Jerry was the best man at our wedding." 

"How can I forget? He put the make on my maid of honor all during the ceremony." 

Heather looked shocked, "He didn't do that, did he?" 

I responded to set up Crys' punch line, "Yes, he did. At the dinner, during the ceremony, and during the reception. Everyone saw it." 

"That is horrible." 

Crys grinned and said, "It wasn't that bad. My maid of honor was Melissa." 

"Shit. You are just as bad as captain cook over there." 

"No honey, I am just as good as the captain cook is." She applied her best sexy inflection to her voice and stroked Heather's arm. Heather didn't pull away from the contact. Crys didn't stop either. 

Heather changed the subject. "What is our lord and master going to do while we are with Melissa?" 

Crys replied innocently, "I don't know. What are you going to do today?" 

"I am going to play golf with the head of our electrical engineering department. I need to butter him up." 

Heather responded, "Oh God! Don't tell him that I was here last night. He will want equal time." 

"I already figured that out. Besides, all I did last night was to take Crys out for an evening sail and then we came home and made torrid love." 

Crys replied, "I remember the first part vividly, but the second part doesn't ring a bell. Heather, was it you who he made torrid love with?" 

Heather turned pink but retorted, "Only in his dreams. I slept very nicely and very alone, thank you very much." 

I had to respond and said, "I am sure that Jerry will be very pleased to hear that. He will think that he still has a chance." 

Heather ignored me and turned to Crys who was still stroking her arm, "I told them both in the office the other day that my sorority sisters say that I hold the school record for handing out blue balls. I thought that maybe I wouldn't have to play that game once I got out into the adult world." 

"Honey, trust me; you were dealing with amateur boys then. Now you will get to hone your art to a fine degree." 

"I'm going to become a hermit." 

Both Crys and I said virtually the same thing, "Not on my watch you won't." Crys actually said, "Not while I am around you won't."